On the Monday, the Packers were informed that their emerging superstar, TE Tucker Kraft, tore his ACL and will not return this season. Coming off an ugly loss at home to the Carolina Panthers, the Kraft news was the knockout punch to end an awful weekend in Green Bay. Replacing Tucker Kraft is going to be a tall task for the Packers to overcome. Kraft’s injury will force Matt LaFleur and his offensive staff to really evaluate their offensive approach.
Kraft has been the Packers top receiving threat this season. On top of that, Kraft was the Packers best blocking tight end. Green Bay is not entirely out of options at tight end. Luke Musgrave, the former second round pick, will fill the void. Musgrave showed a lot of flash and potential during his rookie season. But, a lacerated kidney and a serious ankle injury brought Musgrave’s development to a halt.
Without Kraft, Matt LaFleur and his offensive staff will need to adjust their overall approach. The performance in the redzone against the Panthers calls for a reevaluation in and of itself. Then, LaFleur must factor in the loss of Tucker Kraft, he is going to need to seriously reconsider his approach to designing a game plan and his play calling. Now, it is not entirely on LaFleur, the Packers players must hyper focus on their execution of the play. Without Kraft, the margin of error shrinks. As a result, it is critical that LaFleur and the offense execute at a high rate going forward.
What do the Packers do?
There are a variety of directions the Packers could go to help mitigate the loss of Tucker Kraft but it is going to call for some creativity. LaFleur will need to find ways to move the football and his best way of doing that, is to rely on his best players. He needs to trust Jordan Love and let Love throw the football. LaFleur must find a more effective way to get the football to Josh Jacobs. Jacobs is a player that can single handily win you a game. Jacobs is more than capable of making plays happen when he is thrown the ball.
LaFleur must find a way to run the offense through Jordan Love but at the same time, improve his running game. Does he consider a package with six offensive lineman when running the ball? Can he get Jacobs involved in the passing game? How does he find ways to get Watson and Golden more involved? How can the Packers capitalize on Luke Musgrave’s speed down the field? At some point, Dontayvion Wicks, who might return this week, and Jayden Reed will be back. Those two will be massive chess pieces for LaFleur.
There is no doubt that Tucker Kraft’s injury is a massive loss but the one positive that the Packers can find is this will force the offense to reset and get creative. That reset point does not stop at LaFleur. The entire offense needs to understand their level of execution must increase substantially. The group that might need to be the one that takes the biggest jump is the offensive line. If the Packers line improves their level of play, then the Packers can find ways to score. Kraft’s injury forces the Packers to level set and reevaluate and that might end up benefitting this team in the long run.
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